Fourth Grader Earns Top Marks in Piano Competition

6/20/2018

Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, and…Anna Pang! Lower School student Anna Pang ’26 is already an accomplished pianist, and she has the title to prove it. The rising fifth grader has won the Virginia Music Teachers Association’s (VMTA) district piano competition for the past three years – as long as she has been competing in the competition.

Each year, students compete in one of four levels determined by their piano school grade. Entrants must pass the VMTA theory and sight reading tests at the designated level for their Piano school grades. Three compositions representing three different periods will be performed, and winners will compete at the VMTA Fall Convention.

In addition to the district competition, Anna also has performed in the Tidewater Music Teachers Forum (TMTF) Honors Recital for four years in a row. Open to students who maintain a high standard of performance in the studio, the Honors Recital auditions are for students in piano levels 4 through 12, where the students are grouped according to their stage of repertoire. Each performance receives a numerical grade. From each level, the performances receiving the highest grades are selected for the Honors Recital. Of the two pieces performed at the audition, the judges decide which piece each participant will play for the recital. A certificate is awarded to each student who performs in the Honors Recital.

Inspired by a summer trip to China, Anna composed a Piano piece named “A Peaceful World”, which won an Honorable Mention in the 2018 International Piano Composition Contest. Hundreds of compositions entered in this year’s Composition Contest, and Anna’s piece was selected for an Honorable Mention.